DUBAI QATAR’s government budget slipped into a deficit of QR18.5 billion in the first quarter of its 2012/13 fiscal year, preliminary data from the central bank showed on Tuesday.
The fiscal shortfall of the world’s No. 1 exporter of liquefied natural gas was equivalent to 10.7 percent of gross domestic product in the period, according to the central bank.
It was wider than the QR2.2 billion gap, or 1.4 percent of GDP, seen in the same quarter of last year.
Because of the timing of revenue flows, Qatar’s budget usually records deficits in the first quarter of its fiscal year, which begins in April, and then bounces back into surplus for the rest of the year.
The OPEC member booked a robust QR54.3 billion surplus in last fiscal year, the biggest since at least 2005/06, despite a surge in spending on public sector wages.
Expenditure fell about 14 percent from a year earlier to QR29.5 billion in April-June, accounting for some 17 percent of the full-year spending plan, the data showed.
Revenue stood at QR11.0 billion, 66 percent down from the same period a year ago. Oil and gas-related revenue accounts for roughly 70 percent of Qatar’s overall budget income.
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